Crewe Alex 25/26 Monthly Review - September

Well, what a polar opposite to August. In August, they won 4 straight and finished poorly by losing their last 2. In September, they had 1 point from their first 3 games but ended strongly with a win. Either way, it's hard to paint September as anything other than a poor month where the results were bad and the performances concerning. Still, here is my recap of September:

Looking Back

After coming into the month off the back of 2 defeats, the Alex made the long trip to Colchester looking for their first win there since 2015. The game was a slow slugfest but Josh March capitalised on some poor home defending to power in his 2nd of the season 5 minutes before half time to give the Alex the lead. They weren't able to hold on to it though, as Kyreece Lisbie pounced at the far post to bring Colchester level. The home side had enough chances after that to win, but were unable to grab a 2nd and the points were shared.

Returning home, they faced newly promoted Barnet. A non-event first half was quickly forgotten as Tommi O'Reilly fired in a thunderbolt had them ahead on 54 minutes. Like at Colchester though, they let the lead slip, as Barnet equalised 2 minutes later. They then went on to miss not 1, but 2 penalties, as March and Max Sanders both squandered opportunities to put the Alex back ahead from the spot. Barnet then stole the points with 10 minutes to go to see the Alex fall to a humiliating defeat.

Things were to get even worse when they made the trip north to a rain sodden Holker Street to play Barrow. Barrow were in poor form, but they were barely troubled by the Alex and they snatched a goal after half time to give them a much needed win, and condemn the Alex to 4 defeats in 5 games.

Thankfully there was light at the end of a tough month as they won against Notts County at Gresty Road. They took an early lead through an unmarked Mickey Demetriou, but once again let the lead slip as County equalised just before half time. County in truth had the better chances to win the game in the 2nd half, but they didn't take them and paid the price, as a tug on Emre Tezgel in the 95th minute gifted the Alex the chance to win via a penalty against County for the 3rd straight season at Gresty Road. Josh March this time didn't blow his kick and slotted in to give the under pressure Lee Bell a badly needed win.

U21s

The U21s continue to be a bit of a disaster. Yes, I know there are reasons, such as the mix and match teams each week. But even with some older more experienced players appearing in September, the results have continued to be horrendous.

Bizarrely, of the 2 points they got in 5 games in September, both came on the road, at Charlton(3-3) and Wigan(1-1), although both came after letting leads slip. In their 3 home games, they've lost all 3, going down against Watford(2-3), Brentford(0-4) and Coventry(0-3). They are 3rd bottom of the U21's league after 8 games.

U18s

It's been a stop start month for the U18s. They only played 2 games in the league and unfortunately lost both, going down 3-2 at Brentford and then again 3-1 at home to Charlton. They should have played at home to Sheff Wed last Saturday, but for whatever reason the game didn't go ahead. They've slipped to 7th in the 10 team Northern Division.

Injuries

The treatment room looks mercifully clear, with Jack Powell the only new concern with a groin issue. Conor Thomas, Matus Holicek and Jack Lankester all returned to action and even Omar Bogle played an U21s game, so his return could also be imminent. Miracles never cease.

Player	Injury	Possible Return Date
Jack Powell(CM)	Groin	Mid-October 2025
Shilow Tracey(RW/ST)	Broken Leg	Late 2025
Joel Tabiner(RW/CM)	ACL	Summer 2026

Loans

Zac Williams is making the squad with Kilmarnock, which is a positive step, but through 2 months of the season he's played 16 minutes of the football. His agent has played a blinder it seems.

Fin Roberts has had a tough time of things at Chester, as he's found starts and goal contributions hard to come by in September.

Jordan Hodkin has also had a mixed month with Leek. He scored 2 in his first 2 games, but then failed to net in any of his last 3 as Leek lost all 3. Still, 2 goals isn't a bad return, so hopefully he can keep finding the net in October.

Player of the Month

Max Sanders

It's tough to pick out a player here, but I'll go with Sanders, who once again has been solid when called upon. He got his first assist of the season against Notts County and was one of the few players to emerge from the Barrow game with any credit.

Previous Picks:

August: Josh March

Step It Up

Tom Booth

It's been a disappointing month for Booth, with the mistakes piling up. He failed to collect the cross for the Colchester equaliser and then did the same for Barrow's winner. He needs to be more consistent and commit fewer errors, although he did have a decent game against Notts County.

Previous Picks:

August: Emre Tezgel

Underrated Player

Conor Thomas

Alright, fine. He's been missed. His first start since returning from an injury which saw him miss the first 2 games of the month and they won. You can't argue with that.

Previous Picks:

August: Max Sanders

Analysis

Each game in September has had it's own reasons why they perhaps didn't do better. Colchester was a long away trip to a tricky team and in a ground where they don't often win. Barnet was a ridiculous game where they get 2 penalties at 1-1 and miss both to eventually lose. Barrow was a damp squib, literally and metaphorically. Notts County was a much needed morale boost, but it could be a short term sugar rush and not the jolt they need to get the season back on track.

The concerns are still there and do dominate the thought process unfortunately. The attack is the biggest issue, with just 4 goals scored in September and 2 of those were from a set piece and the penalty spot. They aren't creating enough chances, with their 3 shots on target per game across the month not nearly enough to win games.

At the other end there are any issues also, with them coughing up too many good chances. Colchester should have scored 2 or 3, Barrow probably could have had another on top of their 1 and Notts County definitely should have scored 2 or 3.

Looking Ahead

Previous Predictions:

August: 2-2-2(Actual: 4-0-2)

September: 1-2-1(Actual: 1-1-2)

August was better than I thought, September was worse. Still, the win against Notts County salvaged something and turned into from a disaster into not great, but something to work with.

Looking ahead to another quiet 4 game month in October, it's another mixed bag of teams including promotion chasers and plucky underdogs.

Optimistic Prediction: 2-1-1(Beat Harrogate & Bromley, draw with Grimsby, lose to MK Dons)

Pessimistic Prediction: 0-2-2(Draw with Harrogate and Bromley, lose to Grimsby and MK Dons)

Realistic(My) Prediction: 1-2-1(Beat Bromley, draw with Harrogate and Grimsby, lose to MK Dons)

Similar to my last month of predictions I know, but then I think it's a very similar outlook where they have 4 tricky games that could yield 2-3 wins, or none. For me, anything more than 6 points would represent a great return.

Final Word

It'll be curious to see where the Alex's season goes from here. If you didn't know how the results had gone, you'd actually be impressed with a 5-1-4 start and 8th place in the table. Yet it doesn't feel like that does it? So, will their season recover and they stay in a play-off hunt? Limp on and see them fall into mid-table? Or fall apart completely? It could go any way at this stage.